Language Tests at School
Author : John W. Oller
Publisher : Longman Publishing Group
Page : 516 pages
File Size : 25,71 MB
Release : 1979
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9780582552944
Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing
Author : Lyle F. Bachman
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 428 pages
File Size : 27,85 MB
Release : 1990-06-14
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9780194370035
Book Description
Offers a discussion of the basic concerns which underlie the development and use of language tests. Presenting a synthesis of research on testing, this book is useful for students on teacher education courses. It is also helpful for those professionally involved in designing and administering tests, acting as a complement to 'how to' books.
Allocating Federal Funds for State Programs for English Language Learners
Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 40,2 MB
Release : 2011-06-20
Category : Education
ISBN : 0309216737
Book Description
As the United States continues to be a nation of immigrants and their children, the nation's school systems face increased enrollments of students whose primary language is not English. With the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the allocation of federal funds for programs to assist these students to be proficient in English became formula-based: 80 percent on the basis of the population of children with limited English proficiency1 and 20 percent on the basis of the population of recently immigrated children and youth. Title III of NCLB directs the U.S. Department of Education to allocate funds on the basis of the more accurate of two allowable data sources: the number of students reported to the federal government by each state education agency or data from the American Community Survey (ACS). The department determined that the ACS estimates are more accurate, and since 2005, those data have been basis for the federal distribution of Title III funds. Subsequently, analyses of the two data sources have raised concerns about that decision, especially because the two allowable data sources would allocate quite different amounts to the states. In addition, while shortcomings were noted in the data provided by the states, the ACS estimates were shown to fluctuate between years, causing concern among the states about the unpredictability and unevenness of program funding. In this context, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned the National Research Council to address the accuracy of the estimates from the two data sources and the factors that influence the estimates. The resulting book also considers means of increasing the accuracy of the data sources or alternative data sources that could be used for allocation purposes.
The Power of Tests
Author : Elana Shohamy
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 34,48 MB
Release : 2014-09-25
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1317875486
Book Description
Language in Social Life is a major series which highlights the importance of language to an understanding of issues of social and professional concern. It will be of practical relevance to all those wanting to understand how the ways we communicate both influence and are influenced by the structures and forces of contemporary social institutions. In all modern societies individuals are subject to tests, whether to enter educational programs, to pass from one level to the next or to grant certificates to practice. Yet, tests are powerful tools which are often introduced in undemocratic and unethical ways as disciplinary tools for carrying out various policy agendas. Tests can be detrimental to people's lives as they are capable of affecting and defining the knowledge and behaviour of those who are being tested. The Power of Tests applies a critical perspective of language tests by examining their uses and consequences in education and society and by viewing tests not as isolated events but rather as embedded in social, educational and political contexts. The book is divided into four parts: the first part establishes the power of tests through echoing the voices of test takers, describing the features of the power of tests, and the temptations that tests offer to bureaucrats who use them for power and control. The second part reports on studies that provide empirical evidence about intentions and effects of a number of large scale language tests. The third part interprets the results by examining their consequences on education and society, arriving at a model of tests' use. The final section of the book offers strategies for controlling and minimising the misuses of tests by introducing the notion of Critical Language Testing which calls for the examination of the consequences and misuses of tests, monitoring of power and pointing to their unethical uses. It also provides a comprehensive discussion of the responsibilities of language testers, including a new Code of Ethics, as well as strategies for guarding and protecting the rights of test takers.
Classroom Assessment in Multiple Languages
Author : Margo Gottlieb
Publisher : Corwin Press
Page : 291 pages
File Size : 44,64 MB
Release : 2021-01-02
Category : Education
ISBN : 1544394500
Book Description
What if multilingual learners had the freedom to interact in more than one language with their peers during classroom assessment? What if multilingual learners and their teachers in dual language settings had opportunities to use assessment data in multiple languages to make decisions? Just imagine the rich linguistic, academic, and cultural reservoirs we could tap as we determine what our multilingual learners know and can do. Thankfully, Margo Gottlieb is here to provide concrete and actionable guidance on how to create assessment systems that enable understanding of the whole student, not just that fraction of the student who is only visible as an English learner. With Classroom Assessment in Multiple Languages as your guide, you’ll: Better understand the rationale for and evidence on the value and advantages of classroom assessment in multiple languages Add to your toolkit of classroom assessment practices in one or multiple languages Be more precise and effective in your assessment of multilingual learners by embedding assessment as, for, and of learning into your instructional repertoire Recognize how social-emotional, content, and language learning are all tied to classroom assessment Guide multilingual learners in having voice and choice in the assessment process Despite the urgent need, assessment for multilingual learners is generally tucked into a remote chapter, if touched upon at all in a book; the number of resources narrows even more when multiple languages are brought into play. Here at last is that single resource on how educators and multilingual learners can mutually value languages and cultures in instruction and assessment throughout the school day and over time. We encourage you to get started right away. “Margo Gottlieb has demonstrated why the field, particularly the field as it involves the teaching of multilingual learners, needs another assessment book, particularly a book like this. . . . Classroom Assessment in Multiple Languages quite likely could serve as a catalyst toward the beginning of an enlightened discourse around assessment that will benefit multilingual learners.” ~Kathy Escamilla
The Language Demands of School
Author : Alison L. Bailey
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 45,92 MB
Release : 2007-01-01
Category : Education
ISBN : 0300109466
Book Description
The Language Demands of School is an edited volume describing an extensive empirical base for academic English testing, instruction and professional development. The chapters comprise empirical research by Bailey and colleagues at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, Student Testing (CRESST) at UCLA, and invited contributions by practitioners in the fields of language policy, testing and instruction. The central focus of the chapters is the research conducted by CRESST over the last two years in an attempt to document the academic English language demands placed on school-age learners of English. The three additional chapters give the perspectives of a policy-maker at the state level, test developers, and practitioners. The Language Demands of School fills a gap in the current literature by addressing the kind(s) of English required of K-12 English Learner students from an evidence-based perspective. This is timely given the broader context of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which has prompted school systems to identify English language proficiency tests to meet the federal mandate. One of the problems that has surfaced in the search for English language tests for K-12 English Learner students is the inadequacy of existing research on the development of the academic English language skills that all students—both English Learner and native English-speaking—need to be successful in the school setting. The Language Demands of School is devoted to exploring this topic and to presenting research that illuminates both the questions and the answers.
Introducing Preschool Language Scale
Author : Irla Lee Zimmerman
Publisher :
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 10,87 MB
Release : 2002-04-01
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780158659459
Book Description
The Knowledge Gap
Author : Natalie Wexler
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 45,45 MB
Release : 2020-08-04
Category : Education
ISBN : 0735213569
Book Description
The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.
PreK-12 English Language Proficiency Standards
Author : TESOL International Association
Publisher : Tesol Press
Page : 164 pages
File Size : 50,44 MB
Release : 2006
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN :
Book Description
The revised PreK-12 English Language Proficiency Standards build on the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessments (WIDA) Consortium's English Language Proficiency Standards for English Language Learners in Kindergarten through Grade 12 (Wisconsin, 2004). The WIDA Consortium is a group of ten states, formed in 2002 with federal monies, that has developed comprehensive English language proficiency standards. This volume also uses grade-level clusters that reflect current educational configurations in the United States. Each of the five language proficiency standards is divided into the four language domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The five levels of language proficiency reflect characteristics of language performance at each developmental stage and include: starting (L1), emerging (L2), developing (L3), expanding (L4), and bridging (L5).
The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing
Author : Glenn Fulcher
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 748 pages
File Size : 27,18 MB
Release : 2021-12-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1000464695
Book Description
This second edition of The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing provides an updated and comprehensive account of the area of language testing and assessment. The volume brings together 35 authoritative articles, divided into ten sections, written by 51 leading specialists from around the world. There are five entirely new chapters covering the four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking, as well as a new entry on corpus linguistics and language testing. The remaining 30 chapters have been revised, often extensively, or entirely rewritten with new authorship teams at the helm, reflecting new generations of expertise in the field. With a dedicated section on technology in language testing, reflecting current trends in the field, the Handbook also includes an extended epilogue written by Harding and Fulcher, contemplating what has changed between the first and second editions and charting a trajectory for the field of language testing and assessment. Providing a basis for discussion, project work, and the design of both language tests themselves and related validation research, this Handbook represents an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and practitioners working in language testing and assessment and the wider field of language education.
